Complications
by littlespider
Summary: Sequel to "Truth or Dare." Life at the Lightman Group is about to get complicated
1. An Awkward Return

I've been getting lots of requests for a sequel to "Truth or Dare," but this is all I've got! So here's the deal: you guys want a sequel, you've got to help me come up with the plot!

Disclaimer: Lie to Me is mine... not!

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Everyone could tell something had happened between the two. After all, neither of them were very subtle. Not only had Riley taken to calling him 'Eli' instead of the typical 'Loker,' but she'd also started coming in several times a week wearing shirts that Cal swore he'd seen Eli wearing the day before. And as for the researcher in question, well, he'd stopped hitting on every girl with legs that came through their doors, and Cal was sure that it had something to do with the fact that he now smelled suspiciously like the citrus shampoo Riley used.

Other bosses probably wouldn't have liked the arrangement. But they didn't let their relationship affect their work, and that was all Lightman really cared about. Besides, it made for some very interesting conversation when he went for lunch with Foster.

"Cal? Have a minute?" the psychologist knocked, although the door was open.

"Anything for you, love," Cal replied, leaning back in his chair. Gillian entered, holding a manila folder. "What've you got for me?"

"Riley's latest microexpression test results," Gillian said, sucking on a hard candy as Cal flipped through them.

"Interesting," Cal murmured, squinting at the last page of results. "In the past two weeks, her ability to recognize trust and affection has doubled."

Gillian gave him a smirk. "I think you should consider putting Loker back on pay roll."

***

"Dr. Lightman?"

Cal, Loker, and Riley had been talking in his office when a voice at the door made them turn around. Ria Torres came walking in, looking as cool and aloof as ever. Her eyes flitted over Riley, but her face remained carefully blank. "Who's this?"

"Riley Yung," the younger woman said, offering her hand. "I'm the new intern. You must be Torres."

Torres shook the offered hand, but both Cal and Eli saw a flash of contempt on her face. Eli was sure Riley picked up on it as well, but she didn't say anything. Torres turned to frown at Cal. "You replaced me? I've only been gone a month!"

Lightman raised his hands slightly, as though to fend off her attack. "No, but we were getting pretty swamped around here. We needed the extra help, and Riley needed to learn the finer points of the science."

Now Torres looked really offended. "So you couldn't just give me a little time to work things out? You thought you could just get another Natural to take my place? I can guarantee you she doesn't have the experience I have."

While Riley just looked pissed at the attack on her skills, Loker jumped to her defense. "Hey, you might have more experience pointing out lies, but Riley's better at finding the reason behind them than you ever were."

"Eli…" Riley gave him a warning look.

"Eli? No one ever calls you Eli," Torres stated suspiciously. She took in how the two were standing, Loker slightly in front of Riley, who had a restraining hand on his arm. And their eyes… "How long have you two been sleeping together?"

Cal's eyes widened slightly in shock. Although everyone knew it was going on, no one addressed it directly. Loker's face flushed, but he looked more angry than embarrassed. "Look, Torres, you can't just come back in here out of the blue and act like you understand what's going on! Because you have no idea, no idea!"

"What's going on?" Foster asked, hurrying into the room. "I heard yelling."

"Ask her," Loker growled, glaring at Torres before stalking out of the room.

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So, you gonna review?


	2. Failed Explanations

I am soooo sorry it has taken me this long to post another chapter! I have recently become obsessed with Criminal Minds, so between salivating over Dr. Spencer Reid and graduating from high school, I have had very little time to update my fanfics! I would like to say a special thank you to Franella, Solivagant, xXMayDayXx, imago-onnanoko, MobMotherScitah, Scribbler95, DanaIsis, and all my other readers for sticking with me this long!

I hope you enjoy this long awaited update. The plot thickens! With any luck, the next chapter should be up shortly. 3

Disclaimer: It took me so long to write an update because I was busy buying Lie to Me for myself... ha! In my dreams.

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They all watched Loker stalk out of the room in shocked silence. Although he was often brutally honest, he never lost his temper. Well, hardly ever. Foster turned to Torres, the look on her face accusing.

"What did you say to him?" She demanded.

Torres shrugged, as though her coming back to the Lightman Group hadn't caused a negative shift already. "I just asked him about his relationship with Miss Yung here."

Foster looked skeptical, glancing at Cal before returning her attention to the young Latino woman in front of her. "Really? You're sure that's all you said? Because it had to be something big to get that kind of a reaction out of Loker."

"Well, it was," Torres said, turning to look at Riley. "You know, he must think there's something wrong with your relationship. Otherwise, he wouldn't be acting so defensive."

Riley all but turned red, her face morphing into an expression of anger. "Listen you, bi—"

"Alright, that's enough," Cal yelled, quieting the three women and standing up. "Torres, you stay here. The rest of you, get out."

Riley and Foster hurried to comply, while Torres stood sullenly in front of Cal's desk. He sat back down and scowled up at her. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What do you mean?"

He snorted in response. "Don't play the dumb ass. Do you honestly think that coming in here and pissing us all off is going to get you you're job back?"

For once, Ria had no witty comeback. She stood there, glaring at the ground. "You told me I could take what time I needed. So I did. Then I come back to find out that you replaced me! How do you think that made me feel?"

"Stupid," Cal said blatantly, causing Torres to look up. "Not many people can spot lies like you do, Ria. All your life, that's what made you special. So when you came back to see someone else doing the exact same thing, you started to feel not so unique. So you lashed out to try and protect yourself."

He held her gaze until she blinked. A short laugh escaped her lips. "You've been working with Foster way too long."

"Riley's staying," Cal said, though he allowed himself a small smirk. "At least for the time being. And you're going to deal with it. Understood?"

Ria sighed, realizing her boss was right. After all, she didn't want to lose her job. Besides, having an intern could have its perks. Someone to fetch her coffee, make copies, pick up lunch… Yes, she could make this situation work. She might even like it.

"Yeah. Got it."

Riley leaned against Loker's office door. As much as she hated to admit it, Torres's comments had planted a seed of doubt in her. No, actually, she was pretty sure that the seed had always been there; Ria had just triggered its growth. Loker _had_ seemed awful offended by the reference to their relationship. Was it possible that he was ashamed of it? There _was_ a good eight year age difference, but it had never seemed to matter before. Or was the MIT graduate Loker embarrassed to be dating a girl who hadn't gone to college?

Riley shook herself mentally. _Don't over think things. Just ask him what was going on._

"Eli?"

There was no response. Riley sighed and was about to leave when the door swung open and Eli's muffled voice could be heard. "Shut the door behind you."

Obediently, Riley slipped into the office, pulling the door closed behind her. Eli was slumped in his desk chair, spinning aimlessly. She accessed his expression carefully. Anger, yes, but there was something else… was that embarrassment?

"Eli, what's going on with you? I didn't think what Torres said was so horrible."

Eli looked at her in complete disbelief. "Are you serious? She just accused us of sleeping together!"

Riley let out a harsh laugh. "Oh really? 'Cause last time I checked, Eli, that's what we were doing."

"But it's not just sex!" Loker exploded, running his hands through his hair in a frustrated manner. "We have more going on than just that. Don't we?"

"Of course," Riley said, now thoroughly confused. Was Loker uncertain about her feelings for him? Did he seriously not understand how important he was to her?

"Yeah. Yeah, we're dating," Eli said, nodding as though to reassure himself. "Just because she never wanted to date me doesn't mean—"

And then it happened. The ever honest Eli Loker censored himself, stopping halfway through his sentence. His eyes bulged, as if realizing what he had just said. He looked up timidly at Riley, and for good reason. The look in her eyes was cold enough to make hell freeze over. Twice.

"What did you just say?"

"I said, you and me, we're dating," Loker answered, quickly averting his gaze in a desperate attempt to stop her from seeing through him.

Too late. "You were interested in her, weren't you? You probably pulled all the same moves on her, the same smooth talk, the little smiles. But she probably blew you off, didn't she?"

Loker blanched, realizing where this was headed. He tried desperately to stop what was about to happen. "Maybe, okay? Maybe when I first met her. But what we have, it's completely different."

"Oh, I'm sure it is," Riley said, now completely worked up. "Just admit it, Eli! You're using me to get back at her! No wonder you were so offended when she asked you about us! You only were using me to show her that she missed out!"

"No, Riley, listen to me!"

"You listen to me!" Riley was practically shrieking, her heart pounding loudly in her ears. "You, Eli Loker, are a sneaky, untruthful bastard! Radical Honesty, my ass! You're only truthful when you want to be."

With that, Riley threw the door back open and stormed off in the direction of the break room. She was vaguely aware that the other employees of the Lightman Group had all wandered into the hall and were now staring at her. She grabbed her purse and headed toward the door. She had almost made it, when Torres and Lightman met her at the front desk.

"Oi!" the British man called after her. "Where do you think you're going?"

Riley turned around sharply. Her face was flushed a bright red and her eyes gleamed wildly. "I'm taking my lunch break. Don't call if it's not an emergency."

Then she turned stormed out of the building.

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It would be too cruel to hold out for reviews before the next chapter. Or would it?


	3. The Intern

So, sorry this one is rather short and action-less, but I really have no idea where I'm going with this story. I just didn't want to disappoint all you lovely people who reviewed!

Disclaimer: Do I seriously have to do this every time? IT'S NOT MINE!

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Cal Lightman massaged his temples as he stared down at the billionth file to come across his desk. The tension in the office was so unbearable that it was giving him headache. It had been almost a week his Torres's return, a week since Riley exploded at Loker. And remarkably, things were no better. Riley was now pretending that Eli did not exist, while treating Torres with cold indifference. For his part, Loker was spending his working hours picking fights with Torres (he was too talkative to give her the silent treatment) and trying to get Riley to talk to him.

All in all, it made for a very tense situation.

Ironically enough, this meant that Cal had been forced to assign Riley and Torres to the same case, which he doubted was making things any better. But it was a fairly tame case, so hopefully they would wrap it up quickly. That is, if they could focus on the microexpressions, rather than each other.

"Wait, pause the video."

Riley sighed and paused the video for the umpteenth time. Behind her, Ria Torres was squinting at the analysis room's large computer screen. They had been analyzing the surveillance footage from a local bar for hours, and they hadn't gotten anywhere. Eager as Torres was to prove that she was better at the job, she hadn't been having any more luck than Riley.

"Do you see that?" she asked, pointing to the obvious sneer on the bartender's face. The girl on the screen was standing next to her boss, one and in her apron. "She has some serious contempt for her boss."

Riley sighed. "Or she could just be pissed that he didn't do anything about those two baffoons who were hitting on her all night."

To her surprise, Ria nodded in assent. Maybe they were getting somewhere. "You're right. I guess what it comes down to is, do we think she stole the money, even though there is nothing in this video that suggests that she did?"

Riley stood up and stretched. Her brain was fuzzy from staring at the screen for so long and she didn't really trust herself to make the right decision.

"You know what I think? I think I'm going to get a cup of tea, and then I'll decide."

"Good idea," Torres said, taking her place in front of the controls. "I like my tea with two sugars and a splash of milk."

Swallowing the growl that rumbled in her throat, Riley clenched her jaw and left the office in the direction of the staff longue. She had some very choice words for where Ria could put her tea, but refrained for the sake of her job. She had already blown up at another employee once, and she was pretty sure that now that Torres was back, she wasn't really necessary. Riley didn't want to give Lightman another reason to fire her.

She was adding sugar to Ria's when she heard someone come up behind her and hover over her shoulder. This time, she couldn't stop herself.

"You know, Torres, just because I'm the intern does not make it my job to run around picking up your files, getting you coffee or tea, making your copies. I'm really getting sick of—"

She stopped abruptly when she turned around to find Loker standing right behind her. She could tell just by the look on his face what he was about to say. Riley's face immediately became blank as she retrieved the mugs and headed to the door.

"Riley, wait!" Eli begged, his green eyes pleading with her. "Just give me a chance to explain!"

She gave no response and walked out into the hall.

"You can't ignore me forever!" Eli cried desperately, following her.

She turned around slowly, and for a second, Loker thought he had won. One look at her eyes squashed his hopes. They were blacker than he had ever seen them, and hard like flint. Goosebumps actually stood out on Eli's arms, though he wasn't sure whether they were from arousal or pure terror. Only Riley's mouth moved when she answered.

"Watch me."


	4. Explosive Understandings

I would like to give a big, big, big shout out to DanaIsis for suggesting that I use the car bomb episode "Sweet Sixteen" as inspiration. You all have her to thank for these final chapters.

Now, I was a little confused as to where Loker was when the car exploded, but for all intensive purposes in this fic, he was walking through the parking lot at the Lightman Group. 's about it. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: If I owned Lie to Me, do you honestly think I would be writing fanfiction? I would be torturing them on the show!

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Riley was walking through the parking lot when a shiver ran down her spine. She stopped and quickly glanced around, but all she saw was Loker practically jogging toward her. Shaking her head, she started walking again, this time a little faster. Sure, she wasn't exactly on good terms with Eli, but she highly doubted he was the reason for her sudden unease.

"Riley!" Eli puffed, slowing to a walk beside her. She made no response, knowing what he was going to say. The same thing he had been saying for weeks.

"Look, I'm really sorry. I should have told you about my feelings for Torres." When she didn't blow him off completely, he took that as a good sign and continued. "But it was so long ago, and it meant so little that I didn't think it mattered."

"It didn't matter?" Riley spun around to face him. It was all Eli could do to force down a triumphant smirk. She was talking to him again! Score one for Loker!

"Eli, it wouldn't have mattered to me if you hadn't made it seem like it mattered to you," Riley said, showing amazing restraint as she kept her voice level. "The way you reacted to Ria's comment… it made it seem like you were ashamed of what we have. What we had."

Loker wanted to kick himself. He had spent countless nights lying awake, trying to figure out what exactly he had said to make Riley so angry at him. Now that he knew, it seemed painfully obvious. Thinking back on it, he didn't really understand why he had reacted to Torres's comment about their relationship so violently. Was it because she made it sound like nothing more than sex? Was it because he felt some stupid, manly need to show her that he could give more than sex, that he was better than that? He honestly didn't know.

"Riley, I…" Loker ran a hand through his hair. "God, I've been stupid. I've never been ashamed of you. Never. And—"

At that very second, the unexpected happened. The car park at the curb not ten feet from them exploded. Loker was thrown backwards, hitting the pavement and skidding a short distance. His head smashed into the asphalt, and he could feel his clothing and skin being torn through like cheese on a grader. Spots danced before his eyes and he gasped convulsively, trying to get air back into his lungs.

Riley, however, had been closer to the car and had taken the brunt of the blast. She was crumpled on the ground to Loker's right, and he forced himself to crawl towards her. The heat from the car scorched his lungs as he reached out and rolled the girl over. What he saw almost made him physically ill.

Her eyes were closed and there was a very obvious gash on her forehead where she had struck the pavement. It was both deep and wide, and through the blood Eli could see the stark white bone. Her arm was bent at an awkward angle and, like Loker, her skin was torn and bleeding from where she had skidded across the asphalt. What scared him most, however, were the little pieces of smoldering metal that had imbedded themselves all around Riley's left eye.

Suddenly, she gave a shuddering gasp and started coughing. Eli let out a strangled sob of thanks before he saw that the blood trailing from her mouth. She must have broken a rib upon impact, which had shifted and pierced a lung. She squinted up at him, her eyes glazed.

"Eli?"

"Sh, I'm right here." He answered, trying to wipe some of the blood off her face.

"You're bleeding…"

Was he? Eli put a hand to his neck and noticed for the first time that there was blood flowing from a cut. But he could deal with that later. Right now he had bigger things to worry about, like how he was going to get Riley out of here. He was loathe to pick her up, especially with a punctured lung. His only choice was to go inside had get help.

"I'll be okay. I'm going to go inside and call for help, okay?"

"I'll come with you," Riley said, making to sit up. She didn't get very far, though, as pain lanced through her head, making everything spin dizzily. Eli was able to push her back down with little resistance.

"I don't think that's a good idea. You stay here and I'll be right back, okay?"

Riley nodded weakly, her eyes fluttering closed. "Promise?"

Eli swallowed hard against the lump in his throat and started to stand. "Promise."

The walk to the Lightman Group building was longer than it should have been. Or maybe he'd just underestimated the severity of his own injuries. Either way, Loker just barely managed to make it in the door when he ran into Torres. Literally.

The young woman rebounded back a few inches and looked up at him in horror. "Loker? What happened?"

Loker barely heard her, consumed by one thought: _Find Lightman, get help._

"Loker? You're bleeding."

_No shit_, he thought. But he couldn't seem to make his mouth work. Torres watched him fearfully for a few more seconds, then sprinted back down the hall towards Lightman's office. Loker staggered along after her.

"Help!" She called. "Somebody, I need some help!"

Thankfully, both Lightman and Foster responded to her calls, rushing out into the hallway to see what was the matter. Seeing the state Loker was in, Foster hurried to his side and gripped his arm gently.

"What happened, Loker?"

Her touch seemed to startled him out of his fog, if only momentarily. "Car bomb," he managed dumbly. "In… parking lot."

Foster peered into his eyes and shook her head worriedly. "He's going into shock. Let's get him into the lounge."

"No!" Eli said, trying to pull his arm out of her grasp and succeeding only in sending himself off balance. Lightman steadied him, and then realized something very important that the two women had been too worried to notice.

"Loker, where's Riley? Was she out there with you?"

Loker looked directly into Lightman's eyes in a moment of lucidity. "We're gonna need an ambulence."

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Final chapter up soon!


	5. Here the Whole Time

Last chapter! I hope you enjoyed the fic and have gotten your fill of Loker/Riley love, because this will be the last of their stories that I write. Thank you all for sticking with me this long… I know it was a painful journey. Thanks for all the reviews and messages I got; they were really what kept me going!

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Loker rubbed tiredly at his eyes. He'd been cleared by the paramedics after they had bandaged up his neck. They had said that he had a minor concussion and that they would prefer that he went to the emergency room just to be sure that the damage wasn't more extensive. As soon as he was able, he had rushed to the hospital, though for very different reasons.

Riley was asleep on the bed before him. She looked a bit better than before; the emergency room staff had cleaned and stitched the gash on her forehead, removed the metal from around her eye, and put a cast on her broken arm. But she was still paler than normal, and Loker didn't like it one bit.

The door to her room opened, but Loker didn't notice until the other visitor cleared their throat.

"She's going to be okay, you know that, right?" Lightman asked, his voice quiet so as not to wake Riley.

"Is that what the doctors said?" Eli asked, searching his boss's face for any hint of a lie.

"They want to keep her here for a day or two so they can keep an eye on her broken rib," Cal said, shrugging. "But, yeah, they said that she'll be fine."

Loker didn't just want her to be fine, though; he wanted her to be the way she had been when they had first met. Young, naïve, yet determined to learn and perform to the best of her abilities.

"Foster said she was going to come back a little later," Cal said, pushing the door back open. "Oh, and Loker? Take care of yourself too, alright mate?"

Then he was gone.

Eli turned back to resume his silent watch when he realized that Riley was awake, staring up at him with her big, dark eyes.

"Hey," he said quietly.

Riley's mouth twitched into a small smile. "Hey, yourself. How long have I been out?"

"About six hours," Loker said, picking up her hand and kissing it, not caring about how she might react. "God, you had me so scared."

There was a moment of silence, but it was not uncomfortable and Riley didn't pull her hand away. "Hey, Eli, I'm sorry."

He frowned. "Why are you sorry?"

"Because I was being a total ass to you."

Loker opened his mouth to protest, then closed it and grinned. "Yeah, you were."

Riley looked shocked for a second, then broke out laughing. The sound just bubbled out of her, light and full of happiness and love. Eli couldn't help but join in. He only stopped when he saw a look of pain filter across Riley's face.

"Are you okay?"

"Ow, it hurts to laugh!" she said, holding her ribs and still giggling.

Loker grinned at her stupidly, at a loss of what to say. Her head was thrown back, sending her dark hair cascading down her back and pillow, and her cheeks sported very pretty spots of pink. He didn't think there was a word in the English language to describe just how gorgeous and radiant she looked right now.

Slightly breathless, she settled back against her pillows, and looked up at him. "God, I've missed you."

"What are you talking about?" Loker asked, leaning down place a gentle kiss on her lips. "I've been here the whole time."


End file.
